1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to garment hangers, and more specifically to garment hangers having pinch clips for the retention of garments.
2. Description of Related Art
Garment hangers are frequently employed to store and maintain clothing in closets, on display racks, and the like. Many articles of clothing can be supported on the basic hanger, which includes a hook portion and a somewhat arcuate main support portion. However, some garments are not easily supported on the basic conventional hanger. Pants or slacks, for example, need some additional support structure if they are to be hung on a hanger. One common solution to this problem is the provision of a straight cross-bar formed on the arcuate main support. Pants and the like may be draped over the cross-bar.
There are several drawbacks to the cross-bar approach to the problem. First, clothing draped over the cross-bar is likely to fall off as it is not securely disposed on the hanger. Additionally, the addition of a cross-bar to a hanger adds a significant amount of material to the hanger, thus making the hanger more expensive and more difficult to manufacture. Moreover, a hanger with a cross-bar is substantially heavier than one without; it is thus more difficult and more expensive to ship.
One solution to the cross-bar dilemma is the provision of pinch clips at the ends of the main support. Pinch clips are generally spring biased closed and provided with thumb or finger rests to facilitate opening. Clothing is inserted in between the open pinch clip and the main support. When the pinch clip is closed, clothing is retained between the clip and the main support owing to the spring bias force. In essence, conventional garment hanger pinch clips function similarly to clothes pins. An example of a prior pinch clip can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,306 to Petrou, the same inventor as that of the instant invention.
While a hanger having a conventional pinch clip does not suffer from the same drawbacks as the hanger having a cross-bar, the conventional garment hanger pinch clip is not perfect. The conventional pinch clip is bulky and adds significantly to the thickness or profile of the hanger. Consequently, the use of multiple hangers having pinch clips reduces the amount of clothing one can hang on a given rack or in a given closet. Pinch clips are usually two-pieces, i.e., the opposable retaining piece is typically molded separately from the rest of the hanger. This arrangement complicates the molding and manufacturing process. Further, the separate piece is usually attached to the main support by a clamping metal or plastic crimp that provides the spring biasing force to the clip. Should the crimp lose its elasticity, it can fall off, and the opposable retaining piece can easily fall off and become lost also.
Also, because conventional pinch clips are spring biased against the main support of the hanger, conventional pinch clips typically have a gap between the finger-grip portion of the retaining piece and the main hanger support. It is common for clothing to get caught or snagged in this gap, possibly resulting in the tearing of the clothing.